


Undine's Wrath

by Goofypants



Category: Sleepless Domain (Webcomic)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26515945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goofypants/pseuds/Goofypants
Summary: An Alternate Universe fanfic of the awesome webcomic Sleepless Domain by Mary Cagle a.k.a. Cube Watermelon, in this universe, Undine Wells is left as the sole survivor of an attack on Team Alchemical, grief-stricken and filled with anger, she takes a different approach, and swears to destroy the one responsible at any cost.Work contains edited panels from original comic. All art and characters (C) Mary Cagle.This work is not intended for commercial use.CONTENT WARNING: Much darker than original. Contains more death and trauma, more violence and  also emotional manipulation.WORK IN PROGRESS.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	1. Prologue

My name is Undine Wells.

I am the water user from Team Alchemical, Magical Girl Alchemical Water.  
Or... I was, at least until the incident that led to the deaths of my friends and teammates. But let's start at the beginning shall we?  
In the weeks leading up to the incident, there was a lot of bickering in our team regarding leadership. Tessa always considered herself the leader, to the irk of Sally and Sylvia too (but mostly Sally) They would bring it up all the time: at school, on patrol, while hanging out together... I always tried to act as the negotiator but they were all terribly stout-headed, until Gwen came up with a rather simple solution. She asked Tessa to let each of us take turns leading the team and being the one to finish the big monsters for three consecutive nights, and we could keep that doing until we decide who is the best leader, or maybe even permanently. At first, Tessa was reluctant, but then she agreed it was a good idea. Gwen insisted I join the rotation as well. I told her that I do not feel like it, especially because I am not the leader type and I was also unable to finish off big monsters myself at the time, so I would rather leave this stuff to them. Still, they all insisted. Oh well.

First up was Sally. As expected, her leadership was as fiery as her spirit and before every patrol she would give bombastic movie-like speeches about kicking monster ass. It was incredibly kitschy, but fun. When the time came for her to finish her big monster off alone, she went so Gung-Ho with her flames, the rest of us rather pulled back. 

Sylvia was next. She brought an entire camera crew and made us all do a flashy model-like into on a catwalk every evening (everyone but Gwen did it) and always asked us to use the most showy attacks. It was exhausting, but our manager called us, and told us we broke record viewings under her leadership. Worth it... I guess? Sally thought the whole charade was stupid but I knew she was actually enjoying the attention.

Gwen was third. "We smack monsters till they dead" was basically her only order. Sally was very okay with it. Sylvia was not, though, and Tessa thought it was too lackluster of a leadership, but she shrugged it off.

And last was me. For the first two nights everything was fine, but I would sweat so much it saved me enengy on conjuring water. But on the third night...

Everything seemed fine at first, there were barely any monsters that night but things started to take a turn for the worse when we encountered Elevadeer.

That terrifying gravity-controlling monster. They told us about it in class but we all thought it was a myth until then... First it caught Sylvia off-guard while she was scouting from the air and tossed her to the ground, giving her a nasty concussion. Then it lifted us up in the air and attempted to slam us down, but I managed to quickly summon a large enough water borble to cushion our fall. It was just luck that Tessa managed to fire at it and destroy it before it could do that again.  
With the Elevadeer gone, we had to get Sylvia to a healer quick so Gwen and I carried her (I was unsure if I could carry her in a blorble in this condition) and we headed to the nearest safety center while Tessa And Sally provided cover in case anything else wanted to mess with us.

We were just a block away from it when we heard that terrible, horrible raspy voice...

"So you managed to defeat my pet, Team Alchemical. My prized, prized pet, oh how sad I am that it is gone."

It echoed in our heads, so much it left all of us dazed. And before we could realize what was happening, some sort of shadowy, gooey substance spilled beneath our feet, trapping us, and before us, she rose. Her body was formed from the substance, all goopy and purple, her hair like the drapes of a funeral home and from below the bangs, just two giant white glowing discs instead of eyes. And there was nothing but spite and hatred in them. Then came her horrible voice again.

"Such transgression requires punishment, Team Alchemical. And the punishment is... DEATH!" 

Huge shadowy arms grew from the goop on ground and grabbed each of us. They lifted us up into the air and I watched helplessly as they smashed my friends into the pavement, one by one... and then me. When I came back to, I was laying in a crater formed by the impact, bleeding, bones in the entire right side of my body shattered. It was agonizing, seeing my... all my friends laying there... dead. Tessa, Sally, Sylvia, Gwen... all were crushed on the impact. I survived, but hanging by a thread. I manged to control the water in my blood to slow down my blood loss, and then the shadowy abomination's head popped up from the ground before me. And that was when I felt something else.

I felt... rage. Burning unbridled rage. But I could not move, I was too injured. Even just breathing hurt me. But the hatred I felt toward her helped me stay conscious. And that was when she spoke directly to me...

# 


	2. Riptide Rising

The shadow girl sunk into the ground after taunting me, leaving me alone in the darkness.

I did not cry, for so desperately I tried to keep the blood inside me using my powers it made my eyes completely dry as a result. I needed to get moving, but how? My body was so messed up I could not move at all. But then they came. The whispers. Calling my name in the voices of my now dead friends...

They all stood in front of me, looking down one me, their eyes void and lifeless and their voices, in a distorted cacophony kept getting louder and louder, until I could finally make out the words...

# 

I screamed those last words so loud my voice became as distorted as theirs, and suddenly I felt a surge in magic power circulating through my body. The pain got even more unbearable, but suddenly I found myself getting up. Strength returned to me and I was able to stand up even under the crushing agony that pulsated in my body. And then I took a step.

That made me cry out even louder, so much that my voice broke. But I remained determined and took another step. And then another. Each time screaming more and more. By the sixth step my vocal chords were so wrecked I could just moan and gurgle. But I needed to keep on going, if I stayed there, more monsters could get to me, either sicced on me by that despicable phantom or drawn in by my own screams. So I kept on walking towards the nearest safety center that I knew of. A hospital. I sure could use some patching up...

When passing by a window, I almost froze. My eyes... my eyewhites turned a deep jet black color, and so did parts of my costume. All the gold details were gone, and the tiny wave-like ruffle on my skirt turned sharp, like the teeth of a ripsaw. And that actually gave me an idea. I shall not bear the name Alchemical Water anymore. No, Alchemical Water died back there with her friends. I am... Riptide. These musings got me so lost in my thoughts I did not even realize I was already there, in front of the hospital. So I shuffled towards the door, feeling that my power was being drained too much from keeping myself alive and moving, and with my last step tripped and fell forwards, hitting my head on the glass doors. And then everything went black.

When I awoke in a hospital bed, everything was blurry. When my eyes got somewhat focused again, I saw a nurse standing by the feet of my bed with two people in uniform of what appeared to be C.D.D. My ears were still ringing though and i could only make out the words: "Days", "parents", and "sorry". I did not understand at first and I just mumbled a confused "Huh?". The nurse took my hand into hers and leaned in close to speak directly into my ear. And I wish I never heard what she had to say.

"Miss Wells, you were in coma for four days. And two days ago there was a breach in the inner barrier at your home address and monsters got in. Your parents did not survive. We are terribly sorry, miss Wells." I could not believe those words. Unable to contain myself I broke down and started wailing with my still sore throat. The nurse and C.D.D. agents left me alone. First my friends and now my family? What did I do to deserve this? Cursed C.D.D., they should have made sure the area was covered! Or... wait. No. IT WAS HER!" Immediately I felt the rage build up in me, mixed with even more sorrow. For some reason this purple slimeball was out to completely destroy me. To break my spirit, to crush my soul into dust. But I wouldn't give her the satisfaction,! Now my revenge is was just about my friends, it was also about mom and dad as well. Mom... Dad...

How long I laid there weeping, I do not know. But after a while I was determined to get up and so I did... and I immediately tumbled off the bed while attempting at it. My entire right leg was stuck in plaster, along with my right forearm, and pretty much everything was bandaged and/or braced. As I fell down, I cried out in agony and the nurse came rushing back in. "Miss Wells! You cannot get out of your bed alone yet!" she told me as she was helping me back up onto it. "If you need to go to the bathroom or you just wish to get some air, you have to ring for a nurse and we will bring a wheelchair. But do not worry, a healer girl will be paying you a visit tomorrow. She should be able to heal you just enough to be at least able to walk on your own." I told her that yes, I would like to go outside for a while, for some fresh air. She nodded and left to get the wheelchairs, then sat me in it and rolled me out to the hospital park. There I gazed upon the sky and started thinking about everything that transpired, Then it dawned upon me just how incredibly powerful she was. After all, she took us all out so easily, and also probably broke through the barrier at my home. I was certain she wanted to destroy the whole city, and only attacked us first because we were the nearest. As for my... my parents... she targeted them specifically to torment me. Once they would let me out of there I would be marching to the C.D.D. Headquarters and telling them everything. Surely they may be incompetent, but they need to know this. The entire city may be in danger and I am the only one who knows right now!. But at the same time, no way am I letting them rob me of my vengeance! For it is mine and mine alone! 

The next few days were largely uninteresting. I was visited by three different healer girls, each on a different day, who slowly and steadily fixed me up, until I was back in shape and form. Well almost. My injuries left me with a slight limp in my right leg, but considering how much strain I put on it by walking with multiple broken bones for quite some distance it was a damn miracle I was able to walk, and surprisingly even run (somewhat). When they released me a week later (despite my protests and requests that I be released sooner) I went straight to the main C.D.D. office and requested to speak with the command. They refused to talk to me at first, but I was persistent and so they heard me out after all. And I soon came to regret the decision to tell them. Those... those arrogant... FOOLS! They claimed it was all trauma from having my team killed by the Elevadeer and from the loss of my family and that they would not deal with post-traumatic nightmares. I insisted that no, it was all definitely very real, but they waved it off and even had the gall to threaten me... Riptide, with a long trip to the psych ward if I didn't knock it off. How dare they! I should've transformed right there and then and crushed them with a mighty wave, but I ultimately decided against it and stormed off. What did I expect anyways, they are just a bunch of useless losers who let US do the real work while treating us like commercial mascots - not like the brave defenders who actually truly risk their lives at night while they sleep. And when we get KIA? They shrug and say "Accidents happen." So it seems it will have to be me personally who will lead the investigation into this. But I will need some allies... powerful allies. 

After leaving the C.D.D. HQ building I headed on to my new home... the Future's Promise Boarding House. The school offered me a room there, since my home was completely destroyed and I had no relatives whom I could be staying with. The dorm room was located right next to one Kokoro Aichi. I had no idea who that was until I arrived there and saw her entering her room. It was Heartful Punch herself! Now that is one powerful Magical Girl I could use to have on my side. But she closed her door before I could talk to her. Oh well there will be plenty opportunities in the future. Now I had to prepare for the night. My plan was to zip around the city and look for suspicious activity that could be possibly linked to that shadow girl, and to test out my new powers on anything that would dare stand in my way. 

I felt that something had changed about them along with my costume, and despite the fact that the hospital advised me against going out for a few more days, I was already out by ten and transformed. First thing I noticed was just how much my movement speed was improved. Instead of surfing around on my personal little wave, I found myself able to zip around on powerful water jet, and I even managed to crash into a large crab-like monster, completely obliterating it in single shot. I was amazed, and so I tried something else. It's buddy charged me from behind the corner, so I quickly conjured water and made it form large bladed gauntlets on my arms. As it was about to tackle me, I punched it and the blade cut straight through it, bits of monster exploding all around me. Afterwards I stood there, checking out the splashing swooshing gauntlets of death that I formed and tried to figure out how it was possible that I got so much stronger? Was it the trauma of loss of loved ones? Was it the agony I had to endure? Or was it the intense rage and hatred I felt towards the shadow girl? Whatever the case, my powers were boosted tenfold, I went from a weakling to a walking doom. Maybe if I could test this, maybe if some other Magical Girl had to endure this, would she get a boost as well?

This trail of thoughts was interrupted by massive hoof steps behind me. It was an another Elevadeer! The thing attempted its gravity attack, but I was quicker. Conjuring a huge water wave, I gave it the form of a giant hand that grabbed the monster and lifted in into the air, then with one single wave of my arm, the water hand tossed it against the pavement, crushing it. Poetic justice. As it was evaporating, I called out into the night "I know you are here, you slimy bitch! These things are your precious pets, aren't they? Well too bad, I just whacked another one! Aren't you mad at me for that? Come on coward, show yourself! You slimy little..!" But there was no answer. I immediately attempted to try and sense her, but there was nothing, not even a single monster in the vicinity. Or maybe she could hide her presence well. This was probably the only part of my powers that did not get upgraded, as I still seemed unable to sense monsters well while the air was dry... it dawned on me that in order to track the shadow girl down, I needed to find a girl with uncanny sensitivity. After jetting around in a several block radius, the announcement ran and the barrier was back up again. I decided that it would be fruitless to attempt a search anymore, and I needed to get ready for... for my parent's funeral. Tomorrow. And my team's funeral two days after that...

"Well just my luck, we now have a girl who comes back even later than Heartful Punch! Next time return sooner, young lady!" was my welcome as soon as soon as I opened the door of the boarding house. I just glared at the RA and told her that all my friends and my parents were freaking dead and that she could cut me some Founder-damned slack. That shut her up right away and I headed up the stairs. As I entered my room and turned on the light, I saw my reflection in a dressing mirror and immediately realized something I did not notice before. My eyewhites were not black while I was not transformed. Hmm. I really needed someone to test my theories on... maybe the girl next door would do...


	3. Eyeshadow Menace

So... I went to my parents' funeral... and then my friends'. During both, I cried a lot... and I cried a lot afterwards as well, then cried even more when I realized Bert was gone too - his tank got shattered in the attack on my home... not even my poor fish got spared by that purple bitch. The weight of it all finally came crashing down on me in full force and the next few days I spent in heavy depression, feeling completely spent and broken, just lying on the bed. Fridge was empty because I neglected to buy supplies but I did not feel like eating anything anyways. Needless to say I did not go out on patrol during this time. Finally I pulled myself together and emerged from my room the day I was supposed to go back to school. 

One would think that after what happened, school would be the last thing on my mind, but it was actually quite the opposite, I was looking forward to it. For I realized that knowledge was an another tool, another weapon I could use in my quest to hunt the shadow girl down and destroy her. And being a nice little diligent student earning top grades could earn me favorable status with teachers and I might be able to maybe squeeze some information out of them. And let's not forget the fact that I needed to be in contact with students in order to find allies for my cause. After all, someone else may have run into the shadow girl while I was out, maybe even lost team members and/or friends to her attacks...

But alas, that part would prove rather difficult, as pretty much every other girl at school avoided me as if I were diseased or something. For the first three days, not single one of them would even look in my eyes. It was all pretty upsetting but there was nothing I could do about it, so I concentrated on my studies in the meantime, and every afternoon I spent locked in school library, except the one when I went to our manager, on the fourth day at school.

"Öh Dear Founder, Undine!" he welcomed me right between the doors. "My most sincere condolences, I... cannot even fathom just what you went through. I assume you are here to resign yes? I already have the contract cancellation prepared because I imagined you would, after what happened..."

"Oh no, I fully intend to carry on, but under new contract. For I have decided to go solo, under the name Magical Girl Riptide." My response stunned him.and also confused as to why I picked such a title, so I showed him my new transformation. My guess is that he was not expecting such a drastic change in my transformed appearance, because he fainted and I had to splash water on his face to get him back up. After he overcame the shock he returned back to business (than man sure is a professional what will I tell you)

"Oh I... what you went through must have been even worse than I imagined if it your costume was affected so much. This is really unheard of... but if you insist on carrying on with your duty and with staying in the media spotlight, I think I may know how to market this new, ahem, persona of your. You see there are lots of edgy teenagers in The City and they would definitely become fans of a dark brooding Magical Girl like that. I have contacts in some magazines and a clothing manufacturer that cater to such audience. I will get in touch with them and we can get to work on building your new brand if you so insist." he told me while putting a new tape in his typewriter.

"Fine by me." I replied. "Also please note that I wish to split the profits from this new branding in such a way that I will only get ten percent, and rest would be divided evenly between Sally's, Gwen's, Tessa's and Sylvia's families." They all deserved it, especially Sylvia's family, and it was the least I could do for them. Besides, I was not interested in money beyond keeping my fridge stocked and having clothes to wear (dorm and utilities were paid for by the school). There were just maybe two things I wanted to buy beyond that... a new gramophone and new vinyl records to replace my classic Doo-Wop and Gypsy Jazz vinyl collection (yeah I spent most of allowance on those rare records, the Django Reinhardt records especially, and they were all completely destroyed, just one more reason that my hands desired to wring that slimy purple neck) He nodded and kept typing out the new contract.

As he handed it to me along with a pen to sign, a look of worry appeared on his face. "Look Undine, I am in no position to tell you what to do, but could you please consider visiting one of the counselors? You seem like... a completely different person since the tragedy. Maybe, just maybe they could help you out in what you are dealing with? Please, I worry for you... "" I signed the new contract and just nodded, saying I will do it right the next day. But I had no intention to, there was no time for such hogwash in my schedule.

An another week went by and the other girls at school were finally getting a bit less avoidant towards me, so I started attempting to converse with them. The first team I managed to contact were Team Blitz. One of the chumpiest teams running around, but beggars cannot be choosers - had to start somewhere anyways. Naturally as expected, they did not believe me. Not at all. 

"You must've bonked your head head during the Elevadeer fight, for humanlike monsters like that shadow girl you describe simply do not exist!" Steffi told me, and I almost told her I would bonk hers if she did not quit doubting me, but I resisted the urge.... barely. In the end they all remained convinced that it was a rather powerful specimen that killed my team and that the shadow girl was a product of my nightmares. Sighing, I gave up, wished them a nice day and moved on. None of the girls I talked to that day believed me. But I would not give up so easily, so instead I headed back to the library as soon as schoolday ended.

The next day I ran into Heartful Punch and her misfit posse during break. I saw this ragtag bunch milling about the school for a few times before but I never ran into them directly. Now, what surprised me was that it was them who approached me... 

"Hey, you're Undine right? We heard that you are going solo after what happened, and... um would you be interested in joining our training club, maybe? You know, going solo can be scary sometimes, I know that very well for I am solo myself, and having some extra edge over the monsters could always come in handy. But, like... no pressure, it is just an offer!" Heartful Punch told me and droplets of sweat formed on her brow. Hm. I am now powerful enough, but any extra bits of power would not be a waste. But... how did the learn I was going solo already? They must have an informant among them! This required more investigation on my side.

"A training club you say. That might be a good idea. You should know that the shadow girl monster that killed my team is still on the loose and threatens us all. So I suggest you all step up your training, and ideally we should joineforces to take her down." was my reply. They glanced at each other and I felt an air of ungenuineness rise around. Something just wasn't right about this.

"Oh yeah, um.... it must be a really bad monster right? But, uh, yeah we will watch out for it don't worry! So anyways... our, uh extracurricular activity group meets every evening except weekends at the gym here at Future's Promise, so you're very welcome to join us if you'd like, uh yes!" she stammered and I knew it immediately. They did not believe me at all! They just thought I was going crazy! And they wanted to keep me around them so that they could keep an eye on me Hah!

But this was something I could turn into an advantage, an excellent opportunity to infiltrate this little group of theirs. They had that nerdy girl in there ( I recognized her, the top student in our school) who could help me out with gathering of knowledge. Then there was a naïve orange-haired girl who seemed easy to manipulate if needed, a big tough bruiser-type girl (again, could be a useful pawn) and a sneaky-looking girl who walked around with her eyes almost shut - that one was probably the informant of the group and again, someone very useful for my purposes. Also let's not forget Heartful Punch herself – one of the strongest Magical Girls out there and a known solo runner. She seemed pretty trusting, and I already started thinking of how to abuse that in my favor.

"I will think about it. My schedule will be packed for the next couple of evenings so I will maybe join you later, see." Plans needed to be laid out first before I made any arrangements with these misfits.

That whole encounter got me feeling uneasy though, and I started really watching my back since then. Something told me that they were out to get me, or to at least pacify me somehow. The C.D.D. and M.G.S.I., that is. Some of the girls I talked to about the shadow girl could have ratted me out, and I still had the C.D.D.'s reaction to my warnings in very fresh memory...

Every night on all these days I still headed out on patrol, and after my contact with the loser teams I decided to trail one of them each night. After all, chumps like these were definitely an easy prey for that mighty monstrosity, so if I was in the vicinity when she struck at them I could introduce her to a world of pain in mere seconds. But nothing unusual happened. Almost. It is worth mentioning that I caught Team Blitz getting schooled by some large monster. At first I wanted to leave them in the mess, but ultimately I decided to be the hero and saved their butts. Turned out to be the right move too, as they all started exclaiming how much they were in debt with me. Yeah, and I did plan on collecting alright. But that guy they had with them, - sure did not like the look he gave me, he seemed he could cause me trouble in the future...

But the greatest breakthrough in my efforts came the next morning, right as I entered the school hallway...

# 

This girl, Zoe. Good kid. Cute, too. Started going to school just two days before that dreadful night when my friends were brutally slaughtered. We talked before and she seemed the mysterious type (enhanced by her heavy usage of jet black eyeshadow), but not since, well... Anyways, there was something completely different about her approach compared to Heartful Punch and her posse. She seemed completely serious about it. Either that or her acting skills are top-notch. But I believed that I had finally found my first real ally in this uphill battle...


	4. Dirge

Those black-lined silver eyes with one flower-shaped iris kept glancing up at me and then back at the open magazine, followed by the magazine shaking lightly and her giggling every time.

“Quit it, you're irritating me.” I hissed at her, glancing up from my notes. “You know damn well I did that interview just for the money to support myself and my friends' families, and if that seems funny to you I swear I will transform right here and...”

“Awww... calm down hun, I know all that and it is very honorable of you, but seriously, the whole article is golden...” she stifled a laugh and listed in the issue of 'TEN PM' magazine again. “Like here, they wrote about you – 'We lost the enigmatic Team Maiden, but fear not, for there is a new stalwart dark knight watching over us while we slumber. She is not the heroine we want, but the heroine we need – Magical Girl Riptide, the embodiment of a dark tidal wave that flushes out the dirt from the streets at night. Like, who even writes this stuff? Or did you write it yourself, stalwart dark knight?”

# 

“But hey speaking of Team Maiden... these two patrolled The Downs back in the day, right? All kinds of crap goes on over there even during the day, so I imagine that at night I must've been even wilder at night. If someone ever saw our 'friend' in the past, I bet it could've been them.”

Now there was an interesting thought. Unfortunately I had no idea what became of those two since they aged out some time after we became a full team. They did pay us a visit on patrol once while they still had powers, but they just talked to us a bit (Sally did get an autograph from of them as she was a huge fan apparently), then wished us the best and moved on. Guess it was their goodbye tour of some sorts. And it's not like we can access any records about them anywhere, as they both studied at that Foundrist school, and these guys are notoriously secretive about their data. “Yeah, if only we could figure out where they are now.”

“Hmmm... if there is anyone who could know something about that, it is that gossip girl, you know that sneaky-looking one from HP's misfit posse.”

“Oh yeah speaking of that, I am going to join their little after-school club tonight.”

The eyeshadow gremlin raised her eyebrows so high they could be seen, even though most of her face was buried in the mag. “Really? Didn't expect you to be the sporty type.”

“I am not exactly joining in for the exercise, though it can't hurt... there is an another, even more important reason. Like you said, they have that gossip girl in their little club, but the others seem to be useful for our cause as well. So we need them in our crew for sure.”

I could swear I saw her mischievous grin even through that thick magazine. “So I assume... you are planning to infiltrate their ranks, then orchestrate a takeover? Can I join in on the fun?”

“Yes but not now. It would be suspicious if I immediately dragged in a friend with me. So you will be joining us in a couple of weeks instead.”

The disappointment in her face was immeasurable and very enjoyable. That's what you get for mocking me, you fluffy little menace.

******

That evening I found myself in front of Talauma Docker Memorial Weight Room, wondering just want kind of shenanigans I was getting into, when suddenly I heard a familiar voice echo out in my mind.

“Ah yes, my old haunt. You are going to like it here, Undine.” I turned to my left and there she was. Gwen was standing there. I was unsure if she was a ghost, or if she were just in my mind, but then her voice boomed in my mind again. “Show them what you are made of. Make me proud.” She then nodded and disappeared. I stared at the spot she was for a good minute when suddenly Heartful Punch blasted through the door and dragged me in. Founder Dammit can't a girl have a moment to brood for her dead friend in peace?

That pink lightning introduced me to everyone: Bud, Harley, Cassidy and Vedika. And there was also this super strong-looking girl named Gabby, but apparently she's not part of the club. I was disappointed because I expected more, but then again it was not that shabby of a start either. And I might be able to convince Gabby to join us later...After introductions were finished, we started with strength training.

Picking heavy things up and them putting them down was way more enjoyable and satisfying than I expected, a can see now why Gwen would partake in such activities. I used to detest exercise but I legitimately enjoyed it now. Guess it is all about the mindset.

After we were done with exercise, HP split us into pairs for training and sparing while transformed. “Undine, since you are new here, you will be training with me. I will show you what we do here okay?” she said. That was all fine by me, I just had to remind myself to hold back as both not to reveal my power level yet, and I did not want to drown her either. 

So we transformed, and of course she was shocked by my new look and I had to spend a well over 15 minutes explaining it to her. “No I am not a dark magical girl now. The black just represents my mourning for my friends. No my powers are not shadow or abyss-related, it is still water. Just water yes. Yes I can see with those eyes, even better than normal actually. Oh, the skull emblem on my belt? Yeah that is there because I witnessed death while transformed. No, nothing else changed.” And so on. She seemed to calm down after that. So much even, that when we started target practice she deliberately let herself be hit immediately and mockingly dropped to the ground and I really really wanted to blast her sky high with a geyser. And so we did this all evening.

After we were done training, she approached me, and I could practically smell the awkwardness she radiated. “Hey you were great! Ummm so... I was thinking, maybe you'd like to... um, patrol together tonight? I mean, it is like, totally cool and ok and fine if you say no, but I though you might, y'know, because of what happened.” She asked me, with her hand behind her head, looking away. Yeah stellar job at hiding that blush right there. Immediately I knew what was up and went into full offensive.

“Gee golly whiz HP, I really don't knooow...” I replied coyly. “I have this cute friend who just got her powers and I promised her I would go out with her for her first patrol tonight.”

“Oh! Yeah um... maybe she could join us too?” That blush of hers was now impossible to hide.

“Sooory but definitely no. You see she is very very shy. And she would also feel extremely awkward in the company of someone so strong and famous like you.” Yeah I I was talking about Zoe and yeah, that little mascara scamp was anything but that. Not in this universe at least. However I did plan to go on patrol with her that night, so I used this excuse. The look on HP's face was priceless. I had her now. “But...” I put my hands behind my back and came closer to her, leaning in a bit and looking up into her eyes. “Maybe next time hmm?”

“Um, oh ok yeah that's cool!”

“Great! Have fun tonight!” I exclaimed and blasted off on my water jets, deliberately splashing her in the process. She was left there dumbfounded, staring after me. Haha, it worked like a charm! After all I learned playing hard to get from the girl who was very best at it – Sylvia, who pulled an almost identical move on be a while back.

******

When I returned from patrol that night, the R.A. stopped me. “Hey, blackeyes. You got mail here.” she yawned and handed me an envelope. It was from my bank. When I opened it in my room, I found out that it was an account statement. And there already was a deposit of my share from the TEN PM magazine article. By Founder, did I make a fool out of myself in that interview, but the money was so very worth it! I immediately planned a visit to the music store the next day after school. I deserved a day off... and my vinyl records back!

So the next day after school, I found myself about a block away from Caeglefeyn Square in front of the store. 'MELODIES OF THE OLD WORLD' was the its name, I used to spend most of my allowance there back in the day. Somehow it brought some sort of pleasant déjà vu that washed over me, and I grabbed the door handle. Then as soon as I entered, I heard music. Someone was singing and playing an acoustic guitar, and it was a rather dark melancholic folk song.

_Don't go out my sweet child  
Don't go out at night  
There's monsters right out there  
And they're all running wild_

_They have fangs they have claws  
And a malicious cause  
Spreading their nightmare around!_

_We fight them out there, we fight and we die  
And for our fates, nobody does cry  
Cold pavement our death bed  
Least our graves ain't neglected  
Bloom of the flowers leads us  
To our afterlife_

_They have arms, they have eyes  
Your blood turns into ice  
There is fear, there is loathing around! _

_And!_

_So we fight on the streets,_  
_Yes we fight and we die_  
_Hear us out there, this is our battle cry!_

Her voice was most unusual, angelically bright but with some sort of growl or rasp in the background. While the girl played and sang, I took a look around the store. There were shelves upon shelves of vinyl records and cassette tapes, phonographs, tape players and also various music instruments. The old world records were all copies from archives that are in the Old World Museum. The clerk then noticed me and stopped.

"Welcome to the Melodies Of The Old World! Is there anything we can get you? " she asked as she was standing up and putting away the instrument. Somehow, I got the feeling that I met this girl before, so I measured her up. 

She was very much like Heartful Punch, tall and slender, but it seemed as if she was carved from stone. She wore a white tank top depicting a husky dog with 'THE HUSKIES' written above it, and a black denim vest. A black beanie covered her head, with her long pale blonde hair flowing from beneath it like a shimmering golden waterfall. But most interesting were her arms, she had black tattoos of chains that snaked down from her shoulders and disappeared under studded black leather bracelets on her wrists. Yeah, I think I know who this is. Taking a deep look into her steel blue eyes and saw something behind them. The reflection of her soul - it was apparent that she must've gone through quite a lot in her time.. She was a former magical girl. She was...

"Excuse me if I am wrong, but are you by any chance... Magical Girl Chain Maiden?" I asked. Upon hearing that, her lips curled into a smile.

"Not anymore, miss. Been over a year now since my powers left me. It is unusual for a Future's Promise student to recognize me though." she said while those steel blue eyes of hers cut through me like scalpels. “I guess the ink on my arms kinda gives me away though.” 

"Truth be told I was actually looking for you and your former teammate. But I had no idea I would find one of you while shopping for music. Originally I only came here for a new phonograph and some doo-wop records." I replied, pulling out a sketch of the shadow girl. “Now since I ran into you here... maybe you can help me identifying this monster? I mean, you and your partner used to patrol the part of town where the strangest monsters are said to appear. Have you ever seen this one?” I explained, then handed her the picture.

"Well I can help you with any of your music inquiries, but I cannot guarantee that I will know a mon..." She started but her stopped when she looked at the paper. “Okay, well this one does seem familiar. I think I saw it.... three years ago, maybe? But it definitely didn't look like a girl, it wasn't humanoid back then. It was just a pile of purple goo with a single white glowing eye. Caught it watching us one night, but when I struck at it with my chain, if quickly sank into the barrier and vanished. Maybe it was not the exact same one, but sure was similar. Also... afterwards a large swarm of monsters set upon us, the biggest we ever encountered. And, I might be misremembering this, but it seemed as if these monsters were stronger than normal too...”

My blood ran cold. If it really was the same monster, over the span of three years it gained enough power to turn itself from a pile of goop into human shape, and now can kill magical girls with ease... it will likely keep getting stronger each day. Looks like I will need to rush things more...

“Right, so can I show you our catalogue? We have some doo-wop records that might interest you. Also we have a brand new briefcase phonograph we received just today...” her voice pulled me out from my thoughts.

”Yeah sure, let me see... do you have any Thruston Harris records?”


End file.
